To answer the question, "Are we moving past that?" I think that the answer is a resounding "no". Publishers use Cash Shops as a crutch to prop up failing games and developers use them if they do not think will be successful without the cash shop.
Some publishers like GPotato (Rappelz, Flyff, and many more) are actually sought out by developers who are interested in developing MMOs, but who do not expect the fanbase to support a subscription alone. GPotato can slap their cash shop onto any game and incorporate it into their network, thus allowing the developer to focus on making games.
Other developers like Turbine (LotR) and Atari (DDO) use the cash shop to prop up a failing game. They dropped the subscription as a service to their customers then added a cash shop in an attempt to generate enough income. Fortunately for Turbine, this worked out to be a hugely unexpected success.
Of course, there are still other developers like Blizzard and Square-Enix that keep the subscription but use the cash shop to fatten their wallets (though they say they are "providing additional services to their customers").
The bottom line is that cash shops are just another source of income and their existence is in no way indicative of the quality of the game. Some companies don't think a subscription will ever work for them, some companies don't think a subscription will work anymore, and some companies think a subscription will work forever. The real determining factor is the popularity of the game, and which model they chose when they started, because who's ever heard of a game that added a subscription after previously being free?
MMO Subscription Fees: Are we moving past that?
With several triple-A MMORPGs finding new ways for gamers to pay for their MMOs, we could be seeing a revolution in MMO business models!
EVE Online, for example, is still subscription based, but they also sell game time as an in-game commodity, for players who have a little more money to spend, but don't want to go the illegal route by purchasing in-game currency from third party groups. Ragnarok Online split their servers up into free-to-play (F2P) and pay-to-play (P2P) servers, with players able to purchase boosts and items via the micro-transaction shops on the F2P servers, or simply having higher rates and more features (but no micro-transactions!) on the P2P servers.
One of the first major companies to lead the charge toward newer, more innovative revenue models was Turbine, with their announcement that Dungeons and Dragons Online would be going "free-to-play" last September. Interestingly, however, Turbine eschewed the classic "give the game for free, but sell the power for cash" model of free-to-play MMOs, and they instead decided to give part of their game away for free, but they would also sell parts of their new content for cash. Some astute gamers will be quick to note that other children's MMOs, like Free Realms and Wizards 101, also follow this unique revenue model, but Turbine was really the first adult-oriented MMO to make this innovative transition, and nobody really knew how gamers would react to this. These days, Turbine has often been pointed to as one of the most successful MMO development teams to try out a new revenue model on a triple-A MMORPG, and their other flagship MMORPG, Lord of the Rings Online, will be following along soon enough.
If you were thinking that one change in one company's revenue model might not be enough to truly revolutionize an industry, you'd definitely be right, but Turbine's new model has really given MMO developers inspiration to find new ways for gamers to pay for their games. All Points Bulletin is already employing a form of EVE's subscription model, with players able to buy "RTW (Realtime Worlds) Points"(What is RTW?) to purchase either 30 days of game time, 20 hour blocks of game time which never expire, or they can even purchase other things on the market using RTW. Global Agenda has also recently announced that they will be free-to-play for all players who purchase the game, and they will charge a fee for every expansion they release. Final Fantasy XIV plans to charge $12.99 per month for their subscribers (which is lower than most MMOs), but they have chosen to charge an extra $3.00 for extra "playable" characters, or an extra $1.00 for extra "storage" characters.
All of these MMOs, however, might or might not have made these decisions if it weren't for other pioneering developers who paved the path for innovation. In the end, subscriptions and payments are really how we, as consumers, make our choices known and show our appreciation for the MMORPGs we play. Just as developers have begun to grow beyond the classic Everquest / World of Warcraft style of combat, so too will we evolve beyond this archaic system of subscription fees, and maybe this upcoming generation of MMORPGs will give us our money's worth of gaming.
Tags: Editorial